Man who spent four years in jail for rape he didn't commit sues New York City for $30m

Prosecutors allegedly suppressed woman's confession she made up rape story and 'continued to oppose' innocent man's release from jail

A construction worker who served almost four years in prison for a rape he did not commit has a filed a $30million suit against the city.

William McCaffrey, 34, says in court papers that police officers knew he didn't inflict bite wounds on purported victim Biurny Peguero, but that they actually came from a drunken brawl with her girlfriends after a night of club-hopping.

His Manhattan federal court filing seeks $20million in compensatory damages and a further $10million to punish authorities for what he calls 'conduct so outrageous as to exceed the bounds of all common and civilized decency'.

Relief: William McCaffrey reacts after being told he's about to be released after serving nearly four years in jail for a rape he didn't commit

The suit, which was filed on Wednesday and names police and prosecutors, says of the bite marks: 'Aware that this fact would provide an alternate explanation for the cause of Ms Peguero's injuries, defendants... told the young women that the true nature of their fight was insignificant and instructed them not to mention it.'

Mr McCaffrey, from the Bronx, alleges that prosecutors 'impugned' his 'truthful evidence' regarding the bites in front of jurors, then sat on Peguero's recantation of her false allegations for two months after learning she had confessed to her priest, the New York Post reports.

Convicted of perjury: Biurny Peguero and her attorney Paul Callan heading to court in February of last year, where she was jailed for falsely accusing William McCaffrey of rape

'As a result of these actions... McCaffrey served at least five additional months in prison before he was finally released on September 1, 2009,' the suit added.

Peguero, 28, of Union City, New Jersey, was sentenced last year to up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to perjury for framing McCaffrey.

The mother-of-two admitted concocting her claims of a knifepoint sex attack after her friends got angry at her for ditching them to hang out with McCaffrey in his car.

During the trial she said that she was filled with remorse for sending an innocent man to prison.

'I question myself every day as to how I could have done this,' she told the judge.

Jailed: Mother-of-two Biurny Peguero listens as she is sentenced

Muriel Goode-Trufant, the lawyer for the city, said the city had not yet been served with McCaffrey's suit.

But she added: 'It obviously involves serious allegations and we'll review it thoroughly.'

At the time of Mr McCaffrey's 2009, the judge in the case was so appalled that he personally apologised and called the case a catastrophe.

A deeply apologetic judge officially dropped all charges Thursday against an innocent man he sent to prison for rape.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Richard Carruthers said: 'I want to convey to you my personal regret in having participated, though unknowingly, in the injustice committed to you.'

'[It is] a catastrophe both for you and for the criminal justice system.

'Given the startling turn of events, I now recant what I said about you when I sentenced you for 20 years in prison for a rape we now know you did not commit.'

At the time Mr McCaffrey said: 'It's terrific. I'm just glad it's over. I've been waiting for this for a long time.'

Peguero’s story began to unravel in 2009 after she went to confession at her local church – some sources suggested for the very first time – four years after she cried rape.

A source said at the time: ‘She was going to confess this was her sin and that was it.’

But after entering the confession booth at St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Union City to recount her terrible lies, Rev Zeljko Guberovic told her she must tell the authorities and push to have Mr McCaffrey freed.

The source said: ‘I don't think she felt that it was going to go beyond that confession. She just happened to pick a priest who said, “Oh, no, no, no . . .”’

Confession: St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Union City where Peguero mad her chilling confession to Rev Zeljko Guberovic

According to Peguero’s lawyer, Paul Callan, Rev Guberovic said: 'The only way you can make this right is to get a lawyer and get this man out of jail.’

She did approach prosecutors to admit her crime and was charged with perjury – although Mr McCaffrey accuses the authorities of not acting fast enough on this information.

Rev Guberovic, who was hailed a hero for his role, told the New York Post at the time: ‘She’s the hero, not me.’

Callan added: ‘It took enormous courage to turn herself in. It was something that was spiritually motivated. She had nothing to gain and everything to lose.’

‘She was having trouble sleeping. She's been haunted by guilt.’

But despite the actions of the reverend, he did face some criticism from the Newark Archdiocese for breaching priest-penitent privilege.